Olean Juneteenth Celebration

An interesting fact about the July 4th Independence Day celebration, which may be difficult to imagine now, is that enslaved black people were not granted that same freedom until June 19, 1865, after the end of the Civil War. It didn’t happen for them for another 89 years, readers. A lifetime! Can you put yourself in their shoes? Most Americans were free of tyranny; they were not. True, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, but that still did not apply to those enslaved people in the Confederate States. Fact from Statista.com: There were almost 700,000 slaves in the U.S. in 1790, which equated to approximately 18 percent of the total population, or roughly one in every six people.

Lacking today’s social media information express, word of the Emancipation Proclamation took another two-and-a-half years to reach Texas, where 250,000 slaves were still held in slavery in what was known as the last bastion for slavery through the final days of the Civil War. Imagine how his day unfolded. (Oh, to have been a fly on the wall.) In June of 1865, more than two thousand Federal soldiers of the 13th Army Corps arrived in Galveston to deliver and enforce the news. 250,000 human beings were released from bondage to their former “masters.”

More information from Statista: “Of the 4.4 million African Americans in the U.S. before the war, almost four million of these people were held as slaves; meaning that for all African Americans living in the U.S. in 1860, there was an 89 percent chance that they lived in slavery.”

It would seem that an event as momentous and life-changing for American citizens would be immediately celebrated, as was the American Independence in 1777. Indeed, it was a day of celebration by the black community for many years, but it took the likes of one feisty elderly Texas woman named Opal Lee to bring Juneteenth to national recognition. Here’s what Wikipedia tells us what happened to her as a child: “In June 1939, her parents bought a house in the 900 block of East Annie Street, then a mostly white area. On June 19, 1939, 500 white rioters vandalized and burned down their home. Lee was twelve-years-old at the time. Recalling it years later, she said, "The fact that it happened on the 19th day of June has spurred me to make people understand that Juneteenth is not just a festival."

Let me introduce you to this tenacious lady: Opal Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, a master’s degree in Counseling and Guidance from North Texas University, served on countless community and business boards, is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and, in May 2023, Lee received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of North Texas and, on May 2024, received another honorary doctorate degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

After she retired from a very active life, Lee did not sit and knit on the porch. She became an activist. She fought for many causes, but her main goal was to make June 19th a National holiday. Like Forrest Gump, she walked instead of running - 2.5 miles every year representing the 2.5 years it took for the freedom news to reach Texas. Then, at age 89 (September 2016) she walked from Fort Worth, TX arriving at Washington D.C. in January 2017 with the goal to speak to President Barack Obama. It’s unclear to this writer if she met with him but a bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday was indeed signed into law by President Joe Biden in June 2021. She was 89 - he was ten years younger. Never underestimate the power and tenacity of an octogenarian!

Here’s the irony - in 2021, Lee was named “Texan of the Year,” this, in the last bastion of slavery after the Civil War. We are certain there may still be more accolades for this amazing woman, but none will surpass the Presidential Medal of Freedom she received from President Joe Biden in 2024.

So, even though Juneteenth has an informal, perhaps light-hearted name that could signify only festivities, cookouts, parades and fun-filled activities, its meaning is historically somber, deep, and life-changingly profound, very much like the 4th of July Independence Day all Americans commemorate. Always remember, independence for ALL Americans came at a huge cost. It truly is a cause for celebration.

So, as Bob Barker used to say, “Come on Down!” and join a Juneteenth celebration locally on June 29th in Olean, NY at the Bethany Lutheran Church, 6 Leo Moss Drive from noon-3:00pm. Della Moore, Co-founder and Director of the African American Center for Cultural Development (and, ahem! 2021 Woman of Distinction in NYS) invites you to an old-fashioned afternoon neighborhood party with good “eatin’s”, fun, and music by Magic Terry Blues Band. Menu consists of BBQ ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs and burgers. Join the fun and bring your lawn chair and sun umbrella! Don’t forget to stop and say hello to Ms. Della. This vivacious young mid-octogenarian is the quintessence of all the good things that are right in this world. Meeting her is half the fun! Hope to see you there!

For more information about the activities of the African American Cultural Development Center, please go to www.Aacolean.org.

Olean Juneteenth Celebration

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